


Counting Down

by RyanTyler2294



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-10
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 22:11:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3150086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyanTyler2294/pseuds/RyanTyler2294
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When your born a watch is put on your wrist and it counts down until you meet your soul mate. The culture of today's society have been shaped around there watches. However, Kasamatsu doesn't go along with these view, and might miss his chance at true love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Counting Down

Kasamatsu looked down at the watch on his wrist. It itched a bit and he scratched around the area. It was a bad habit that he picked up since he'd gotten the watch. It has been on his arm since he could remember.

There were times when he really wished he could remove it. Supposedly it was going to fall off when it was done counting back, but it looked like it was embedded in his skin so deep that something like that would be impossible.

He didn't watch it in the same anticipations that others did. People who did, he liked to call wrist watchers, who spent all day watching their watch as they got closer to zero. However, he wouldn't lie about the fact that when he as bored he would sometimes watch the seconds, minutes and sometimes hours tick by.

It wasn't that Kasamatsu didn't care; he just didn't know why of all the things people could invent why they came up with something that counted down until you found your soul mate.

Actually no one was really sure where they came from or who invented them. Some said they were a God send and other people were skeptical that the government had something to do with it. They came out of nowhere one day, everyone got one and it automatically set once it was on your wrist.

Now and days it had become a way of life to have one. It was put on you the moment you were born. No one objected to it once it was proven to work. Hearing two peoples watches go off was the same as a public proposal. Everyone would clap and congratulate the couple, who just met.

The watches didn't actually go off until some form of contact was made and names were exchanged. Meaning that the person you meet was always a complete stranger.

Kasamatsu couldn't say that he was excited about meeting this person who was supposed to be his soul mates. His parents had been excited when they saw that he was going to meet this person when he was seventeen. There were some people who weren't going to meet the right person until they were seventy; however, they were happy to wait.

It was knowing that there was someone out there for you that made it easier for people to save themselves for that person. They wanted all of their first to be with that person, and if you hadn't fallen into that mind frame by now you were an outcast to society.

Dating had become taboo in the wake of the watches. Why test the waters with other people when your soul mate was out there?

Kasamatsu had dated. He didn't tell anyone, but he and Moriyama dated for about two years before they broke up. They knew they weren't the other person special someone but they couldn't deny the attraction and love they had for one another.

He knew no one would care if he was with a man. Once the watches were dubbed something Holy it was hard to depute that when two men, or two women's watches went off that they weren't meant to be together. It led to many people trying to trace back where the watches came from, but no one could. Boxes just appeared in the hospital every day.

Some people still tried to protest homosexuality. It was all fun and games until the leaders from the two opposing sides, both women, met, and their watches went off on live television. It was one of the biggest scandal of the century. There were still a few people here and there who grimaced at same-sex couples but at this point it was the norm.

Kasamatsu wasn't sure why people thought dating was bad. It was possible to love more than one person. Even though he knew he wouldn't be with Moriyama in the long run, he didn't regret the time he spent with him. The kissing, hand holding, celebrating, knowing that he was loved equally if not more by this person.

It hurt when they broke up. Things weren't working and Moriyama was getting worried people were starting to figure things out. Kasamatsu couldn't explain how shattered his heart felt, but he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He spent days in his room, and moping around the house before he realized in order to move on he had to go back to his old life.

School and family. He was more focused on his academic goals and his future career choices than everyone else around him who was counting the days, hours, minutes, seconds.

It was ridiculous the way wrist watching became an epidemic. Well, it was already a trend when he was born. Wrist watchers would be more and more distracted as the day got closer. Their eyes were basically permanently watching their clock. It was amazing that none of them had been hit by a truck at this point.

Waiting around for a soul mate had become a big distraction to people's life. He wasn't sure why, but it seemed like almost nothing productive got done when he was around people who were still waiting. People who knew they were going to meet their special someone while they were young would be more willing to talk about who they thought it was going to be than doing homework. You could be excused from school if you met your soul mate during school hours.

For what? He wasn't sure. Again, they would just meet. There was no context behind the relationship. All you knew was that in the future things would work out for the two of you in some way. It didn't mean you had to start honeymooning it up the moment you meant.

Today however he was letting these thoughts go. Moriyama's watch was going to go off in the next two minutes and he'd asked Kasamatsu to be there with him. Kasamatsu wasn't sure why he needed to be present but he agreed to tag along. Good friends are there to support the other friend when they need them. It doesn't matter if said friend who need support was acting like a nervous school girl.

"Dude watch the roads." Kasamatsu pulled him along as the crossed. "The watch will go off on its own. There will be no point to this if you get hit while crossing the street."

"I know! I'm just really nervous."

It was said that it was ideal to go about your day the way you normally would when you were with twenty four hours of meeting. It was why after school they took the normal way home instead of the short cut like they normally would on days when it was raining like this.

"You'll be fine."

"Do you think it's her?" Moriyama motioned across the street to where a girl that he couldn't remember seeing around was about to cross. She too was constantly glancing at her watch and grinning. Why else would anyone be happy in these conditions. Her long brown hair was plastered to her head because she didn't have her umbrella. His clothes were sticking to her body to show off her curvy figure. Her face was flushed pink from the cold. She must have been so excited that she forgot her coat.

The light turn green and she looked down at her wrist as she started to cross.

Kasamatsu couldn't get the words out fast enough. Moriyama was gushing about how that must be her. They were less than twenty seconds away, but no one seemed to e paying attention to the truck, whose breaks didn't seem to be working, that was speeding down the road. There was no time to save her, not time to get over there, so he grabbed Moriyama's arm and pulled him back a few seconds before impact.

The girl looked up from her wrist and screamed, but it was already too late. At the moment of impact, Moriyama's watch broke.

Watches break when your soul mate dies before you meet them. It didn't happen often to people that he knew. This was his first time seeing it. The only thing that would make him feel a little better was to know that the girl had died on impact and didn't suffer.

Moriyama was beside him in shock. He couldn't speak he could just stand there looking at the poor girl. People had rushed to help her, but he knew there was no point. She was dead.

~.~.~.~.~

Moriyama spent the next few days morning the person he never met. Kasamatsu understood the shock of the situation, but he didn't understand how someone could be so hurt over someone they didn't know. Maybe it was knowing that he would never be able to find someone who was compatible. In that respect it was a personal loss.

"There's always dating." Kasamatsu said. Dating was normal for people who had lost their other half. They would seek companionship from people who had also lost that special person. However, they weren't always easy to locate, and it was even harder to tell because the watch wouldn't come off now. It was forever cracked and embedded in your skin as a constant reminder.

"I know but…"

"You'll be fine. There's more to life than romance."

"That's easy for you to say." Moriyama huffed, and then smiled. "Isn't yours supposed to go off in two days?"

Kasamatsu shrugged before looking down at his watch. It was supposed to happen somewhere within a two day time period.

"You're not nervous?"

"Not really."

"You were always the cool one." Moriyama rolled his eyes. "What do you think she'll look like?"

"What are you talking about?" Kobori asked.

"Kasamatsu's watch goes off in two days." Moriyama explained.

"So soon?"

"I know right?"

"Also," Kobori cleared his throat. "Coach wants to talk to you Kasamatsu."

"Why, I already said I was quitting the team this year."

"He wants to talk to you." Kobori shrugged.

Kasamatsu groaned as he left he desk to find his old coach waiting for him in the hallway. He didn't want to go back, not after missing such an easy shot last year. They would have won, would have made it to the final round to compete.

"You're the best pick for captain." Coach said. "There's no doubt about it, you have amazing skill in basketball, you know how to lead and boost everyone's moral. You might have well been the captain last year."

"I don't want to keep playing."

"I know it's hard to get back to it after a devastating loss like that, and all of your teammates are blaming you, but you have talent. You're going somewhere with this, even if it's just a scholarship in the future. All I'm asking is for the same dedication you've show me the last two year to be just as strong in your final year."

"Just give me time to think on it." Kasamatsu said.

"Good! So I'll see you when practice starts."

Kasamatsu sighed. He could tell that no wasn't an acceptable answer. It wouldn't hurt to give basketball one more try. He wasn't bad, he just lost his confidence when they lost last year, and how he missed such an easy shot. But if Coach had fate in him he could try again.

~.~.~.~.~

Two days later he was changed and ready for practice. He'd was introduced as the new captain to the team, and they started warm ups. It gave first years who got lost time to make it to the right gym. It was a huge campus and there were many gyms and a lot of practices going on at the same time.

"We're going to do roll call of the people who signed up, just to make sure everyone is in the right place." His voice boomed through the gym. People answered back and he crossed off names. He tried to ignore the proud smirks on his friend's faces as he took charge of the team.

He gave an eye rolled at them, and another one when he noticed a wrist watcher on their team. There was nothing worse than someone distracted during practice. More than one person had been hit in the head with basketballs and even run into walls trying to check how much time was left. This blond freshman would just be one of the many.

"Kise Ryota." He called.

"Here." The blond he was talking about raised his head, and then there was a beeping as someone watches went off. The blonds face brightens, and it took Kasamatsu a few seconds to realize that the other watch going off was his own.

Kise was grinning at him now. He looked like he was expecting Kasamatsu to say something. Kasamatsu went back to roll call. There were a few whispers at his reaction, but they were silence by the threat of being kicked.

It turns out that Kise was one of the kids that Kaijo had scouted for their team. He was apparently a really good player and a model so he wasn't always able to make it practice. Apparently the school was ready to turn itself upside down in order to make it so Kise could play on the team. They even lowered the standards of the average grade needed to stay on the team in order for him to play.

Kasamatsu sighed as he changed back into normal clothes so he could go home after practice. He just finished cleaning up the gym so there were only a few people left in the locker room.

"Hey!" Kise greeted leaning against the lockers as if trying to act cool.

"What." Kasamatsu remained calm.

"Our watches beeped so I guess we're soul mates."

"I guess so."

"So um…"

"I have to get home so I'll see you at practice tomorrow."

"Oh..okay, bye." Kise waved. He sounded dejected.

"That was cold." Moriyama said as they walked home. "He's the one you've been waiting for. You can't just brush him off."

"I don't even know they guy. I'm not going to just jump into a relationship with him."

"Seriously?"

"I just don't think I should get bent out of whack over just meeting him."

"It's not that bad."

"It's cool to know who it is but…"

"You never did go about things the conventional way."

"It's not conventional to go off with a stranger."

"Are you talking about dating?" Moriyama asked.

"There's nothing wrong with getting to know each other. Did you know most people arrange weddings right after they meet?"

"Yeah, it's normal."

"It's creepy. Relationships should be based off of relations. It's getting to know people that makes…"

"Oh!" Moriyama grinned. "You want to fall in love?"

Things like that were only read about in novels. Sometime daytime dramas acted out event s such as those, but the idea of falling in love before getting together was a lost medium. You learn to love the person you're with. It's just the way things work.

"It's not like that." Kasamatsu blushed. "I just want some sort of context."

"You're asking for too much. You're lucky to have met him." Moriyama grimaced a bit at the thought of what happened not too long ago.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." He wasn't going to argue with him. No one seemed to get what he was saying. All he wanted is for someone who wasn't just putting on a happy face because of some dumb watch. If he wanted to be with him there should be effort on both parts.

He got home and started taking off his shoes dropping his bag, hanging up his coat. He wanted to shower and get something to eat before he started his homework. He was so distracted he didn't notice his parents looking at him expectantly.

"So, how did it go?" His mom asked. She was all smiles.

"Fine."

"Did you meet her." His dad asked.

"I met him." Kasamatsu said picking his bag back up. Change of plans, go straight upstairs and shower. Food can wait. He didn't want to have this conversation with his parents. He knew what was going to come next.

"You're going to go meet up with him. If you want to stay out late we can call the school to let them know you won't be coming in tomorrow." His mother added coyly blocking his way to the stairs as they spoke.

"That's fine." He tried to ignore how disappointed they both look. "We're both on the basketball team, so I'll see him at school."

"You guys don't want some one-on-one time?"

"I'll see him at school." He had a feeling he wasn't going to anywhere anytime soon.

"You don't seem too happy about it."

"It's just been a long day and…"

"Sweet heart." His mom interrupted his speech. "Be nice to the poor boy."

"I'm not being mean!" He said. He and his mother were dancing at this point as he tried to get around her.

"Then maybe you should invite him over sometime." She wasn't going to let him pass.

"Okay I'll keep that in mind." He wasn't going to give up either.

"I mean it Yukio I want to see who you're going to be spending the rest of your life with."

"We're not married."

"But you will be."

"Okay. I'll tell him." He finally managed to pass and up the stairs.

He wasn't going to invite Kise over, not right away. Sure the other teen was cute, but that was where the attraction ended. He felt bad that he hadn't really given him the chance to talk, but he also didn't want to have to deal with all the mushy talk he'd seen happen when other couples get together.

~.~.~.~.~

The next day Kasamatsu caught Moriyama talking with Kise when he was waiting at the entrance of the school. The blond greeted him cheerfully. Kasamatsu said hi. He wasn't out to be mean or rude to the kid, he just didn't want to get together with him at the moment.

"We're all first string members so it's only natural that we'd all hang out together." Moriyama said.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. Moriyama was trying to play match maker.

It was true regardless. Kise was going to spend a lot of time with them because he was a first string member. On top of that he was a starting member and a first year ace. Kasamatsu being captain was basically assigned to him. It was kind of like baby-sitting, but there was a lot more training.

However, he thinks that the coach had done this on purpose. He was there when the watches went off. He made sure that when they used the buddy system that they were together. They shared a room when they had to stay overnight. They were always together at practice.

"Senpai did you see that!" Kise was always waiting for praise whenever he did something right. By now Kasamatsu had learned to roll his eyes but tell him he did a good job anyways.

"We should hang out outside of school and basketball." Kise said. "We never have any alone time."

"Why would I want alone time with you?"

"Because our watches…"

"And?"

At this point of time Kise had learned to roll his eyes. Kasamatsu was apparently hard headed, and he knew not to take things to heart when he wasn't open to his advances.

"I want to spend time with you." Kise said. "Most couples do that."

"We're not a couple." Kasamatsu ignored the whispers from the people around him.

"But we're a least friends right?"

Kasamatsu couldn't deny that fact. The blond had started to grow on him. It was most likely because he made sure to have a constant presence whenever he could. He went out of his way to make sure he could come on their group outings. He even canceled shoots so he could go to the mountains for summer training. Apparently his agency was very understanding of his situation.

The most annoying thing was the media, who seemed to be keeping tabs on them. Whenever a celebrity found their match they reported it. They weren't everywhere and they weren't swarming him with questions, but they had an update of every time they were together.

Everyone had a comment about them never being seen alone, and their lack of general PDA, or closeness. They were never holding hands or even enter reacting that much. It was starting to cause concern that for once the watches were wrong.

"Senpai I need help." Kise whined.

"With what?"

"Testing is coming up and I need to pass in order to make it to the games."

"You're grades can't be that bad. How else have you been able to play this year?"

"See for yourself." Kise handed him his report card and Kasamatsu's mouth dropped.

There was no way anyone could be this dumb! This couldn't be real.

"How do you have such a….a…."

"I know! At first I thought I could pull it up, but testing is soon and I want to be able to help in the tournament. Please help me study Senpai!"

"Fine." Kasamatsu sighed. "I guess we can meet during break and after practice. You took your time asking for help. There is only a few weeks until testing so you'll have to cram."

"Thank you!" Kise bowed repetitively. "I'll do my best!"

"Yeah, yeah." Kasamatsu sighed. Kise had come into his classroom during break to ask him for help. It caused a lot of attention from the girls in the room. A lot of them had avoided Kise when he first came and planned on trying to introduce themselves right before their watches went off to see if they were supposed to be with him. Now all of their dreams had been crushed, and Kasamatsu wasn't even taking advantage of his situation.

"Kise is coming over tomorrow." Kasamatsu told his parents. "I'm helping him study."

"Kise is the one? Right?" His mother asked carefully.

"I guess." Kasamatsu shrugged. He kept his eyes on his plate as he parents gushed over the fact that he was finally bringing Kise over. They have been waiting for this for close to a year.

So when he did come over the next day the house was spotless and there was a nice place in the living room set up for them to study and his mom brought them snacks. That being said it was understandable why they were so disappointed when they saw the way they were together. It was like there was no kind of connection between them.

"It's just algebra!"

"I don't get it." Kise said. "Why do you have to divide?"

"Because…" Kasamatsu had been at this for a few hours. It seemed like the moment Kise understood what was going on, he forgot what he was supposed to do.

Kasamatsu sighed trying to explain it again. He didn't mean to yell. He could tell Kise was actually trying, but it was still frustrating. How could someone go so long only retaining so little information?

"Can we take a break?" Kise sighed putting his head on the table.

"Yeah." Kasamatsu wasn't sure what to do. Kise was a valuable part of the team and not having him for competition was going to hurt the team. It was his job as captain to make sure that he did well and made it. He just wasn't sure how to get things through to him.

"I guess that copying ability only works for physical things?" Kasamatsu asked, coming back to the room with two glasses of water.

"Yeah. I've never been good at memorization."

"Let's try a different approach. I'm going to write down the steps to solving these kinds of equations. Then I'll give you five minutes to read it, and then I'll give you an equation. As you're solving it I want you to explain to me why you're doing each step."

Kise looked confused at first, but he went with it.

"So the answer would be X is the less than or equal to positive or negative four."

"Yes!"

"I think I'm starting to get this…"

~.~.~.~.~

"You and Kise have been spending a lot of time together." Moriyama said.

"He needed help studying."

"That sounds like the start of a shojo manga." Moriyama elbowed him playfully.

"It's not. Besides, he took his test yesterday so we're done with that." Kasamatsu explained. "What have you been up to all this time anyways?"

Normally he and Moriyama are always together, but lately Moriyama had been distancing himself from Kasamatsu, and Kasamatsu had been busy with captain work and Kise.

"Nothing much. I've just been considering my options. I was thinking about looking into…you know…"

"Dating?" Kasamatsu said bluntly. A few people turned to look at them, but went back to doing whatever it was they were doing.

"It's just hard because you can't tell whose watch is counting down and whose is broken."

"I'm sure there is someone out there."

"Not like her." Moriyama sighed thinking back to the girl. He never even learned her name.

"Companionship can be someone who…"

"Let's not talk about this here."

"I'm just saying…."

"Senpai!" Kise came running up to them. "Guess what I passed. I even got into the top hundred!" He boasted, taking great pride in showing off his grade.

"Wow!" Kasamatsu was actually beaming up at him, eye twinkling in the slightest at his work.

"Now I can play without having to worry."

"You still have midterms and your grades still need to be brought up."

"So you'll help me?"

"Whatever."

"Thank you Senpai! I'll see you at break!"

Kasamatsu fought back a smile as he watched Kise walk ahead of them to class. Kise was starting to grow on him. He didn't find him to be as annoying as much as he was finally starting to get used to Kise's personality. He was generally a bright and bubbly person and tended to get worked up easily over the slightest of things.

"You guys hang out during break?"

"Only to help him study. Don't make it out to be something that it's not."

"You're so weird. You have your soul mate right in front of you, and you chose to ignore him."

"I'm not ignoring him."

Moriyama raised an eyebrow as if waiting for an explanation.

"He's kind of cute but…"

"Nope! Stop there! You admitted it! You like him!"

"Affection and attraction are two different things."

"Right right. You're on your way though. I'm proud of you. You know I was starting to fear what everyone else feared."

"And that was?"

"That your watches were broken. If it was then that would mean that there is a failure rate and people would have to reevaluate everyone relationship."

"If everyone is content why would they look into it?"

"People say their happy because it's the norm to be happy with your match. Not that many people would be willing to say that they weren't satisfied with who they are paired up with if there wasn't already an open case."

Kasamatsu shook his head. He understood what Moriyama was saying. He just didn't get how people could stay somewhere they weren't happy just because other people would frown about it. You need to be able to think about yourself and your quality of life once in a while or you would end up miserable.

Speaking of miserable, he wasn't looking forwards to the studying sections that he had planned with Kise. He didn't have anything else planned for his break, but he still liked the idea of having that free time.

"Let's go somewhere besides the library today." Kise said when they met up. They ended up off campus at one of the many small restaurants in the area.

"I thought you wanted to study?"

"Yeah, but I also wanted to thank you for helping me. I don't always learn easily and there are a lot of times where I just lose focus, but you stuck with me anyways! Not even my private tutors do that for me, and they were paid to help."

"I said I was going to help you so I did." Kasamatsu said as if it wasn't a big deal.

The waitress came to ask what they wanted to drink. They placed their individual order and Kise got a pitcher of mineral water for the table.

"You don't have to show off." Kasamatsu kicked him under the table.

"I always get mineral water." Kise whined dodging the foot he knew was coming.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. He could tell what Kise was trying to do. It was similar to the few dates he went on with Moriyama. He could tell that the other was trying to impress him.

"I'm treating you, so get whatever you want." Kise encouraged.

Kasamatsu smiled softly, deciding to just go with it. Kise was being nice and there wasn't any real reason for him to be mad or difficult. He had a good time. Kise wasn't lying when he said they should hang out more. It was a lot easier to talk to him when it wasn't about school or sports.

Kise was even daring on the way back, and tried to hold Kasamatsu's hand confirming his suspicions. This was a date. And while part of him wanted to pull his hand back, he didn't object.

~.~.~.~.~

Practice was one of the many things that Kasamatsu dreaded on rainy days. He wore his leg sleeves for a reason and that was because he had worked really hard to get on to first string. He had completely neglected his own body and had developed shin splits before the end of the season. On rainy days his injury would act up.

He would still try and practice. Coach would have to tell him to sit out for the day, and sometimes the day after. It's the reason he was sitting on the bench, with his legs being iced. He was still able to oversee and make sure that everyone was working hard, but Coach took over for the most part.

Kise offered to help him walk home when he saw that he was having trouble walking. He carried both their bags and had his arms around his waist, and made Kasamatsu put his over his shoulder so he could support his weight as they walked.

Kasamatsu had taken a note that the two people who would normally offer to help him, Moriyama and Kobori, had been the first two to leave. They usually offer to help and he would decline, but today his legs hurt more than he was used to, and he actually needed to assistance to get home.

Between the two them there was no room for an umbrella. Kise's place was closer. Kasamatsu called his parents to explain where he was, and they seemed to be more than okay that he was going to spend the night at Kise's.

He was currently dry and in a spare pair of Kise's clothes as they did their homework together. Despite the fact of what had happened over the past few weeks, Kasamatsu still didn't seem as close as what was expected of him.

Kise's sisters had said as much. Even his parents gave disappointing looks when they saw the way they acted when together. Eventually Kise just decided for them to go up to his room so his family didn't hover. Kasamatsu was a little uncomfortable knowing that they were watching. He just rolled his eyes when they said they didn't "act like a couple."

"We don't though?" Kise said.

"Don't what?"

"Act like we're together. We had a bit of a moment before, but other than that I'm either kept at a distance, or you just kind of seem like you hate me."

"I don't hate you!" Kasamatsu said a little bit too quickly for his liking.

"You don't?"

"No."

"Then maybe you could treat me like more of a friend instead of a responsibility?" Kise asked hopefully.

"I don't treat you like a…"

"It's like you only want to be around me for basketball, and like you only pay attention because I'm your kohai, and I want to be more to you."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why do you want to be more to me?"

Kise blinked as if not understanding the question, and Kasamatsu rolled his eye. It didn't matter how nice Kise was, he could tell the other man only worked hard to be with him out of obligation of those watches. If it wasn't for that he probably wouldn't even bother.

"Moriyama said that you weren't too keen on the idea of the watches." Kise sighed. "And yeah, my first instinct when they went off was to get close to you for that reason, even when you were keeping me at a distance."

Kasamatsu sighed.

"But, I do like you. I couldn't start to name all of you redeeming qualities. You're hot, and one of the few people I've ever met who was nice to me. I really like you. I'm more than willing to take things slow if you're scared…"

"Scared of what?!"

"Commitment? Being with someone the rest of your life? I was just guessing."

"I'm not scared I just…"

Kise put his hand over Kasamatsu's. He gently brought it to his mouth and kissed the knuckles.

"I give you time to fall in love with me." Kise said softly.

~.~.~.~.~

Kasamatsu had been easily flustered by Kise since then. It was funny to watch. Kise doted on him more since he'd voice his intentions. He gave him space, but at the same time he was always around. Not to mention that Kise really did need help studying.

"I love this team." Kise had said, and Kasamatsu had been relived yet kind of peeved off at what was said.

"Were you expecting a love confession?" Moriyama asked.

"Shut up."

"He's probably waiting on you to give the okay."

"Shut up." He felt his hand automatically go up to scratch his wrist. He found the area smooth from the lack of watch. He sighed remembering how it had been almost a year since his watch had gone off.

"Seriously is there nothing between you guys or what?"

"It's complicated."

"Do you not get all "doki doki" when he's near. Find yourself thinking about him all the time? Do you have the full making of your romance novel yet?"

Kasamatsu could hear the bitterness in Moriyama's voice. Now wasn't the time to admit to the fact that he was feeling all of those things, and he had for a long time.

"Not everyone gets this chance!" Moriyama glared at him. "He's loves you. You like him enough that you could make this work, and you're caught up on playing hard to get. If we had been in a world were these watches hadn't existed you would have let him slip by, and he could have gone off with someone else. You can't tell me that you wouldn't have regretted that the rest of your life?"

Kasamatsu was quiet.

"So, just get together with him already."

Kasamatsu couldn't think of anything to say back. He nodded and pretends not to notice how upset Moriyama looked as he stormed away, or how Kobori was the one that went after him.

"You ready to go?" Kasamatsu asked Kise as he left the locker room.

"Uh…yeah."

Silence enveloped their walk.

"I'm sorry." Kasamatsu said. "I know that you've been trying your hardest and I've been difficult." He thought back to the flowers and chocolates Kise had gone out of his way to get him. Not to mention the overall kindness that Kise had displayed. That included the scarf that he was wearing around his neck. Kise had brought it for him when Kasamatsu lost his at one of their games. It had been expensive, but he insisted on Kasamatsu having it.

"It's okay."

"I do like you, I just don't want to…" He wasn't sure what he planned on saying.

"I like you too." Kise smiled at him grasping his hand as they walked. "A relationship can be a scary thing. I'm not going to rush you."

"I do want to be with you." Kasamatsu said. He was trying to put what he was feeling to words, but was failing.

"It's okay."

"I want to kiss you."

Kise blinked. He looked down at Yukio who was blushing but glaring ahead of him. He smiled and stopped walking. He never let go of his hand.

"Then I will." Kise said softly leaning down. He let Kasamatsu meet him half way, slightly disappointed by how short it was, but elated to find Kasamatsu's eyes still closed.

"So can I call you my boyfriend?"

"Whatever."

"Can I kiss you again?"

Kasamatsu let out a heavy sigh. He could practically see Kise's tail wagging.

"Not right now." Kasamatsu started to walk ahead of him. "Come on I'm hungry." He called back when he say that Kise hadn't moved yet.

"Okay!" Kise followed him.  
Fin


End file.
